Prepared by:

Regional Employer Training Seminar - September 2001, Portland, Oregon

A Training Seminar will be held September 27, 2001, in Portland, Oregon. The following topics will be covered:

• Coverage under the RRA;
• Creditable Compensation;
• Experience Rating;
• Supplemental Tax and Supplemental Benefits;
• Employer Reports;
• Personal Injury Settlements, Separation, Allowances, and Dismissal Allowances.

Registration material will be sent to employers in the Oregon and Washington area in June. If you do not receive a registration packet at that time please call the Quality Reporting Service Center (QRSC) at 312-751-4992.

SSA/IRS National Payroll Conference -  Baltimore, Maryland

The National Payroll Conference will be held Thursday, August 2, 2001 in Baltimore, Maryland.  Speakers from both IRS and SSA will cover topics such as Annual Wage and Tax Reporting, Electronic Wage Reporting, changes to W-2/W-3, and more. We have requested an agenda for this year's conference. If you are interested in attending, contact QRSC at number listed above and we will fax the agenda and any additional information we receive.

CD-ROM Reporting Program

We encourage everyone to use the RRB CD-ROM program to complete their service and compensation reports, download the information onto a floppy disk, and mail the disk and the G-440, Report Specification Sheet to us so we can timely and accurately process the information. We are reminding everyone to please download the report to a floppy disk instead of printing it and sending us a paper copy. If you are experiencing problems or if you need a copy of the program, please contact us at the phone number listed above.

Revised Reporting Instructions

The Reporting Instructions to Employers have been updated effective April 2001. In addition, two new chapters, "Experience Rated Contribution Rate" and "Employer Verification of Unemployment and Sickness Benefits", were added. The instructions will be mailed to all railroad employers and they will also be available on the internet at www.rrb.gov. If you prefer to access the instructions electronically, rather than receive a paper copy, please call or fax us at the above number.

Supplemental Tax Rate for April-June 2001

The Board has determined that for the quarter beginning April 1, 2001, the supplemental tax rate shall be 26 cents per work-hour.

Annuity Estimates

The RRB Annuity EStimate OPeration (AESOP) will be released by July 31, 2001. AESOP provides annuity estimates for all of the eligible employees for railroad employers and their subsidiaries. This type of information can be very helpful with retirement planning. You can receive the data in a paper format, on magnetic tape, diskette or CD-ROM. If you do not currently receive AESOP for your organization or want to change the format, contact QRSC at the number or e-mail address listed above.

For All Employers with Canadian Employees Entering the U.S.

As you know, for about three years now, non-resident aliens working in the United States have been prevented from obtaining SSA numbers due to INS regulations concerning work visas. We have been studying several options to assist your compliance with reporting under these unusual circumstances. While we have run some possibilities past some employers, we are not quite certain what identifier we will ultimately use. In the meantime, be assured that we are storing employee records for later posting and please continue to report using the identifiers you are currently using. We anticipate having a solution before next year's reporting cycle.

Return to Service

Annuitants who return to work for employers covered under the RRA are no longer entitled to retirement annuities from the RRB. If you are crediting your former employees with service months for vacation, or any payment not associated with actual work or a negotiated agreement, you may be subjecting them to overpayments of their benefit payments. The compensation can be credited to their account, but no additional service months can be credited after they actually stop working and relinquish their rights to work for your company. If this occurs for your former employee, you will receive a GL-132, Notice of Service Reported for Annuitant Who is Receiving an RRB Annuity. This form will help us determine if the data was reported in error or if the service was correctly reported.

Address Reports for New Hires due April 1

Employers are required to file with the Railroad Retirement Board an address report for new hires. This report is due by April 1 each year. The report may be reported on Form BA-6 or BA-6a, Address Report, magnetic media, or a computer listing. If you have no new hires, no address report is necessary.